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Professional  Instruction 
in  Bibliography 

i 

I 

Round  Table  Meeting  held  at  the  Waukesha 
Conference  of  the  American  Library 

'l  Association,  July  lo,  1901 

I 

\ 

AKSEL  G.  S.  JOSEPHSON 

( Chairman 

( 

i J.  I.  WYER,  JR. 

j Secretary 

\ 

\ 

\ 

f 


Reprinted  from 

PROCEEDINGS,  AMERICAN  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION 
August,  1901 


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0 \ 0 n 

INSTRUCTION  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY:  ROUND  TABLE. 


PROFESSIONAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY : ROUND  TABLE 

MEETING. 


N informal  “round  table”  meeting  for  the 
consideration  of  present  and  possible 
methods  of  professional  instruction  in  bibli- 
ography, was  held  on  the  morning  of  Monday, 
July  10,  in  one  of  the  parlors  of  the  Fotintain 
Spring  Flouse.  A.  G.  S.  Josephson  was 
chairman,  and  J.  I.  Wyer,  Jr.,  acted  as  secre- 
tary. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  10.30 
a.m.  by  Mr.  Josephson,  who  opened  the  ses- 
sion with  a paper  on 

A POST-GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

In  looking  over  the  various  definitions  of 
the  word  bibliography,  I have  found  two  n ain 
groups,  one  narrow,  one  broad. 

The  narrow  definition  has  been  thus  ex- 
pressed by  Prof.  C.  V.  Langlois:  “Bibliogra- 
phy is  the  science  of  books.  As  library  econo- 
my treats  of  the  classification,  the  exterior 
description  of  books,  of  the  organization  and 
history  of  libraries;  as  bibliography  treats  cf 
the  history  of  the  book  as  a manufactured 
product  (printing,  bookbinding,  bookselling) ; 
so  bibliography  in  the  precise  meaning  of  the 
word,  is  that  particular  part  of  the  science  of 
the  book  which  treats  of  the  repertories  and 
which  provides  the  means  of  finding,  as 
promptly  and  as  completely  as  possible,  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  sources.” 

As  an  example  of  the  broad  definitions  I 
choose  the  one  by  M.  E.  Grand  in  “La  grande 
encyclopedie.”  He  defines  bibliography  as  “the 
science  of  books  from  the  point  of  view  of 
their  material  and  intellectual  description  and 
classification,”  and  goes  on  to  say  that  “there 
are  three  principal  things  to  be  considered  in 
the  study  of  bibliography:  classification  of 
books,  . . . (.bibliographical  systems)  ; descrip- 
tion of  books  (bibliographical  rules)  ; and  the 
use  of  bibliographical  repertories^ 

If  we  compare  these  two  definitions  we  see 
that  here  the  same  word  has  been  used  for 
two  distinct  subjects,  the  one  of  which  in- 
cludes the  other.  Without  here  going  deeper 
into  the  intricacies  of  these  definitions,  I will, 
for  the  purpose  of  this  discussion,  accept  the 
broader  of  the  two. 

The  question  what  instruction  in  bibliogra- 
phy should  contain  is  already  answered  in  the 
above  definition  itself. 


The  study  of  bibliographical  systems  for 
classification  of  books  presupposes  the  .-tudy 
of  the  theoretical  systems  of  classification  of 
knowledge  and  this  presupposes  the  study  of 
the  history  of  the  sciences. 

Bibliographical  rules  govern  the  practical 
art  of  book  description,  what  is  technically 
known  as  cataloging.  There  are  various 
codes  of  rules,  more  or  less  arbitrary,  as  they 
are  more  or  less  the  outcome  of  a compro- 
mise. But  under  all  arbitrariness  one  will  dis- 
cern some  underlying  theory  as  to  what  a 
description  of  a book  should  contain.  Such 
theories  are  founded  on  the  practice  of  print- 
ing and  publishing:  thus  the  intelligent  study 
of  bibliographical  rules  presupposes  the  study 
of  the  history  of  printing  and  publishing. 

Bibliographical  repertories  contain  the  sys- 
tematic records  of  printed  documents  and  the 
study  of  these  repertories  is  what  is  called 
bibliography  in  the  narrow  sense.  While  the 
branches  of  study  previously  referred  to  n^ay 
by  some  be  regarded  as  of  less  value  to  the 
librarian  there  is  surely  none  who  will  deny 
the  necessity  of  his  being  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  literature  of  bibliographical  reper- 
tories. However,  I do  not  think  that  I am 
alone  in  the  contention  that  all  the  different 
branches  of  bibliography  in  the  broader  sense 
are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  librarian. 

Dr.  Dziatzko  has  pointed  out  that  in  such  an 
eminently  practical  occupation  as  that  of  the 
librarian  it  is  particularly  important  not  to 
neglect  altogether  some  kind  of  theoretical 
studies.  There  can  be  no  studies  of  greater 
importance  to  the  librarian  than  those  just 
enumerated,  namely,  history  of  literature  — 
the  word  taken  in  its  broadest  sense  — history 
of  the  book  in  all  its  phases,  and  the  study 
of  bibliographical  literature. 

The  library  schools  have  done  much  to  en  - 
courage the  professional  spirit  of  librarians 
and  to  develop  the  technical  side  of  their 
work.  It  is,  however,  felt  that  something 
more  is  needed,  something  that  a professional 
school  or  a training  class  cannot  give,  namely, 
solid  bibliographical  scholarship.  This  can,  in 
my  opinion,  not  be  acquired  except  at  a uni- 
versity with  a faculty  of  specialists  and  an 
extensive  equipment  of  bibliographical  litera- 
ture as  a part  of  a large  university  library. 


198 


'WAUKESHA  CONFERENCE. 


A post-graduate  school  of  bibliography,  such 
as  I have  in  mind  should  offer  instruction  to 
two  classes  of  students.  The  one  class  would 
be  students  in  the  other  branches  of  msti’uc- 
tion  who  would  select  as  a minor  one  of  the 
subjects  offered  by  the  school,  and  who  should 
be  required  to  pursue  in  the  school  the  bib- 
liographical study  of  their  main  topics  and  the 
preparation  of  the  bibliographies  that  should 
be  required  as  a necessary  accompaniment  to 
every  dissertation.  The  other  class  would 
consist  of  persons  wishing  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  the  professional  work  of  the  li- 
brarian and  bibliographer.  They  would  choose 
as  their  majors  the  studies  offered  at  this 
school,  and  could  choose  as  a minor  any  other 
scholastic  subject.  It  would  be  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  would-be  librarian,  could  he, 
while  pursuing  his  special  studies,  be  allowed 
to  do  university  work  in  some  other  subject 
of  his  choice,  such  as  literary  history,  phil- 
osophy, American  history,  mathematics,  or  the 
like. 

As  thorough  bibliographical  knowledge  is 
the  foundation  for  the  work  of  the  librarian, 
the  central  subject  of  instruction  in  the  school 
should  be  the  study  of  bibliographical  re- 
pertories and  of  the  record  literature.  This 
study  should  include  seminar  work  in  the 
handling  of  literary  tools,  in  hunting  up  ref- 
erences on  special  questions,  and  in  the  prep- 
aration of  bibliographical  lists.  This  leads  to 
the  study  of  bibliographical  methods.  The 
principles  of  book  description  should  be  dis- 
cussed, the  leading  codes  of  rules  studied 
comparatively,  their  merits  and  defects  dis- 
cussed, but  none  should  be  taught  as  the  one 
to  be  absolutely  followed. 

History  of  printing  and  bookselling  comes 
next,  preceded  by  an  introductory  considera- 
tion of  palaeography,  particularly  that  of  the 
15th  century.  The  steps  leading  to  the  dis- 
covery of  printing  with  movable  types,  and 
the  spread  of  the  art  over  the  world  should 
be  followed.  Examples  of  the  products  of  the 
first  printing  presses  should  be  studied  and 
described.  Of  later  periods  in  the  history  of 
the  book  the  most  important  seem  to  be  the 
later  i6th  and  the  17th  centuries  in  England, 
and  the  19th  century  in  Germany. 

A parallel  study  with  that  of  the  history 
of  printing  might  be  classification  of  knowl- 
edge and  of  books,  with  the  history  of  sci- 
ence. The  student  might  well  be  given  his 
choice  between  these  two  topics,  while  that  of 
bibliography  in  its  narrower  sense  should  be 


required  of  everyone.  The  history  and  in- 
terrelation of  the  various  sciences  is  a sub- 
ject of  great  importance  not  only  to  the  clas- 
sifier, but  to  the  library  administrator  in  gen- 
eral. It  should  be  covered  by  special  lectures 
by  the  representatives  of  the  various  scirtiices, 
connected  by  a theoretical  course  in  the  the- 
ory of  classification,  and  followed  by  seminar 
work  in  classification  of  books. 

A course  preparing  for  the  professional 
work  of  librarianship  cannot  be  complete  with- 
out the  study  of  library  administration.  While 
we  are  not  particularly  concerned  with  this 
to-day,  it  should  be  said  that  this  subject 
would  naturally  be  a required  one,  and  would 
cover  particularly  the  history  of  libraries  and 
of  the  methods  of  library  administration.  The 
technical  training  in  the  minor  topics  of  libra- 
ry economy  would  not  have  any  place  in  a 
school  of  this  description. 

I had  hoped  to  be  able  to  present  at  this 
meeting  some  statements  from  university  au- 
thorities in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  a 
post-graduate  school  of  bibliography  at  some 
university.  I have  not,  however,  succeeded  in 
getting  any  statement  of  such  definitene.ss  that 
I can  present  it  here.  I can  only  say  that  ihe 
president  of  one  of  the  larger  western  univer- 
sities seems  to  look  with  some  interest  on  the 
proposition.  A letter  from  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris, 
Commissioner  of  Education,  says : 

“It  is  very  easy  for  me  to  say  that  I believe 
post-graduate  courses  in  bibliography  to  be  a 
most  excellent  thing,  but  whether  there  should 
be  such  a school  established  in  Washington  — 
I have  no  conviction  on  this  question.  I am 
not  in  a condition  to  say  whether  it  would  not 
be  a most  excellent  thing  to  establish  such  a 
school  in  connection  with  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress. Mr.  Putnam  is  proceeding  in  a very 
intelligent  manner  to  make  the  Congressional 
Library  of  use  to  the  whole  country.  Would 
not  a school  of  bibliography  here  in  Washing 
ton  have  the  best  opportunity  to  do,  so  to 
speak,  laboratory  work  in  bibliography,  and 
this  in  connection  with  the  national  library? 
I am  not  able  to  affirm  an  opinion  on  this 
question.  The  subject  is  very  important  and 
your  letter  was  a letter  which  I wished  to 
answer  to  some  purpose,  but  I have  not  bem 
able  to  do  it,  and  this  is  merely  an  explanation 
of  why  I have  not  been  able  to  do  ft. 

“You  very  well  name  the  studies  of  such  a 
school:  The  literature  of  the  subject;  the  use 
and  handling  of  books  as  literary  aids;  bib- 
liographical methodology ; comparative  ^ his- 
tory of  literature  and  the  sciences;  classifica- 
tion of  knowledge  accompanied  by  the  study 
of  the  various  systems  of  classification  of 
books;  palaeography,  history  of  printing. 

“It  seems  to  me  that  one-tenth  of  all  the 


INSTRUCTION  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY:  ROUND  TABLE. 


199 


librarians  educated  for  the  purpose  of  working 
in  a library  should  take  just  such  a course 
of  instruction  as  this.  This  would  give  them 
directive  power  in  the  most  important  part 
of  the  librarian’s  duty.” 

The  secretary  read  a paper  by  Dr.  Joh. 
Leche  describing  the 

COURSES  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OFFERED  BY  PROF. 
DZIATZKO  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  GOTTINGEN. 

The  first  and  so  far  the  only  professorship 
in  the  auxiliary  sciences  of  librarianship  in 
Prussia  was  founded  in  1886  in  Gottingen  as 
a consequence  of  the  growing  importance  of 
libraries.  This  professorship  has  been  filled 
since  its  foundation  by  Professor  Dr,  Carl 
Dziatzko. 

The  courses  of  lectures  given  have  so  far 
been  as  follows : 

Library  administration. 

The  laws  of  authors  and  publishers  in  the 
history  of  bookselling. 

Books  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

(The  above  courses  have  not  been  given 
in  later  years.) 

Books  and  writing  in  ancient  times. 

History  of  printing  and  bookselling : 

(a)  previous  to  the  Reformation. 

.{b)  since  the  Reformation. 

History  and  development  of  modern  libra- 
rianship. 

The  lectures  are  held  three  times  a week 
and  have  the  same  strictly  scientific  character 
as  other  university  studies. 

They  demand  therefore  real  co-operation 
between  lecturer  and  students,  putting  before 
the  latter,  as  they  do,  a rich  and  critically 
sifted  material  which  gives  them,  in  a way, 
a sharp  outline  only  which  they  will  fill  out 
more  or  less  fully  according  to  their  diligence 
in  carrying  on  their  studies.  The  lectures  are 
made  particularly  attractive  and  stimulating 
through  the  exhibition  of  important  examples 
of  printing,  if  possible  original  works  re- 
ferred to  or  quoted  in  the  lectures,  etc. 

Beside  these  public  lectures,  Prof  Dziatzko 
gives  once  a week  a bibliographical  seminar 
for  a smaller  circle.  The  majority  cf  the 
members  of  this  seminar  are  the  library  vol- 
unteers who  naturally  are  more  numerous  in 
Gottingen  than  at  other  Prussian  university 
libraries.  If  it  is  true  of  the  public  lectures 
that  valuable  results  are  gained  only  by  real 
co-operation  of  the  students,  these  seminars 
directly  demand  independent  work  of  the 


members.  A considerable  part,  in  fact  half 
of  the  allotted  time,  is  given  to  description  of 
incunabula  according  to  the  rules  formulated 
by  Prof.  Dziatzko  and  published  in  no.  10  of 
his  “Sammlung  bibliothekswissenschaftlicher 
Arbeiten.”  Apart  from  the  importance  of  in- 
cunabula for  the  history  of  printing,  they  arc 
particularly  suited  to  bring  out  questions  of 
various  kinds  relating  to  bibliography  and 
librarianship.  The  remaining  seminar  hours 
are  given  up  to  reviews  and  papers  by  the 
members.  In  most  cases  the  subjects  are  se- 
lected at  the  suggestion  of  Prof.  Dziatzko,  but 
it  is  preferred  that  the  members  should  select 
their  own  topics.  The  papers  deal  with  the 
most  varied  subjects:  questions  of  a purely 
practical  nature  alternate  with  scientific  and 
historical  investigations  of  bibliographical 
topics.  (Several  of  these  papers  have  after- 
wards been  prepared  for  publication  in  Prof. 
Dziatzko’s  “Sammlung  bibliothekswissen- 
schaftlicher Arbeiten.”)  The  papers  arc  fol- 
lowed by  judicious  criticism  by  Prof.  Dziatz- 
ko and  discussion  by  the  members  of  the  sem- 
inar. Whatever  time  is  left  is  devoted  to 
reading  of  old  manuscripts,  exhibition  of  bib- 
liographical rarities  and  curiosities,  important 
new  publications,  etc. 

In  connection  with  the  palseographical 
studies  just  mentioned  it  should  be  noted  that 
a special  seminar  in  palaeography,  given  by 
another  professor,  Dr.  Wilhelm  Meyer,  is 
attended  by  many  as  a supplement  to  their 
bibliographical  studies. 

A.  S.  Root,  librarian  of  Oberlin  College, 
supplemented  this  letter  with  a description  of 
his  work  with  Dr.  Dziatzko,  stating  that  the 
real  strength  and  power  of  the  work  consisted 
in  the  bibliographical  seminar  and  the  work 
v;ith  incunabula.  In  this  work  each  student 
has  assigned  to  him  the  work  of  a special  city 
or  a special  press.  He  studies  the  books, 
catalogs  them,  and  submits  his  work  to  Prof. 
Dziatzko  for  review.  These  papers  are  then 
discussed  by  the  members  of  the  seminar  and 
sharply  criticised  by  Prof.  Dziatzko.  The 
new  literature  of  bibliography  added  to  the 
library  is  periodically  examined  and  discussed 
by  the  class. 

G.  W.  Harris,  librarian  of  Cornell  (Jni'/er- 
sity,  gave  in  outline,  the  substance  of  a course 
of  15  lectures  on  bibliography,  delivered  one 
each  week  during  a half  year  at  Cornell.  The 
nature  of  these  lectures  is  general  because  in 
each  department  more  or  less  stress  is  based 


200 


WAUKESHA  CONFERENCE. 


on  the  use  of  special  bibliographies,  and  each 
thesis  for  an  advanced  degree  at  Cornell  must 
be  accompanied  by  a satisfactory  bibliography 
of  the  subject  treated.  The  large  collection 
of  early  imprints  representing  many  of  the 
different  presses  affords  excellent  opportunity 
to  inspect  and  study  examples  of  early  print- 
ing. Mr.  Harris  was  of  the  opinion  that  work 
in  the  bibliography  of  special  subjects  should 
be  given  by  the  heads  of  the  departments 
concerned.  Mr.  Harris  gave  the  following 

SYNOPSIS  OF  LECTURES  ON  BIBLIOGRAPHY,  COR- 
NELL UNIVERSITY. 

LECTURE. 

I.  Definition  — Advantages  of  knowledge 
of  bibliography;  Range  of  bibliogra- 
phy; Antiquity  of  books.  Ancient 
materials  — Clay  tablets  of  Assyria, 
Assyrian  libraries  — Palm  leaf  books 
of  India  — Birch  bark  books  of  Cash- 
mere  — Maya  books  and  mss. 

H.  Papyrus  and  its  importance,  prepara- 
tion, grades,  roll  form  of  books  — 
Papyrus  mss.  and  Egyptian  litera- 
ture. 

HI.  Papyrus  paper  among  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans — Methods  of  bookmaking  and 
publishing  in  Greece  and  Rome. 
Writing  instruments  and  inks  — Mss. 
of  Herculaneum  — Public  libraries  of 
the  ancients  — Alexandrian  and  Ro- 
man libraries. 

IV.  Wax  tablets  of  the  Romans  — Introduc- 
tion of  parchment  — Change  from 
roll  form  to  square  form  of  books  — 
Results  of  this  change  — Palimp- 
sests. 

V.  Latin  palaeography  and  various  styles  — 
Bookmaking  in  the  Middle  Ages  — 
Schools  of  calligraphy — Scriptorium 
and  its  rules  — Colophons  — Monas- 
tic libraries. 

VI.  Secular  scribes  of  Middle  Ages ; Gilds. 
Art  of  illumination  with  examples  of 
illuminated  mss.  — Changes  resulting 
from  introduction  of  paper  — Cotton 
vs.  linen  paper  — Block  printing  in 
China  and  Europe  — Block  books. 

VH.  Invention  of  printing  — Career  of  Gu- 
tenberg — Earliest  printed  books 
Spread  of  the  art  in  Germany,  Italy, 
France,  England — Printing  in  Amer- 
ica. 

VHI.  Incunabula  — Characteristics  — Types, 


abbreviations,  signatures,  colophons 
with  examples. 

IX.  Technical  terms  for  sizes  of  books  — 
Confusion  of  size  and  form  — Signa- 
tures, water-marks,  size  notation. 

X.  Bindings  of  books  — Historical  sketch  — 
Processes  of  book  binding  — Exam- 
ples. 

XI.  Rare  books  — Fashions  in  books — Fa- 
mous presses  — Famous  editions. 

XH.  Illustrated  books  — Methods  of  illustra- 
tion— Manuals  for  collectors. 

XHI.  Classification  of  books  in  libraries ; 

various  systems  briefly  described, 
with  examples. 

XIV.  Catalogs  and  cataloging ; various  kinds 

of  catalogs  briefly  described,  with  ex- 
amples. 

XV.  Aids  in  use  of  the  library  — Reference 

lists  — Bibliographies,  national  and 
special,  with  examples. 

Prof.  Charles  H.  Haskins,  professor  of 
European  history  in  the  University  of  Wis- 
consin, presented  an  outline  of  his 

COURSE  IN  HISTORICAL  bibliography,  UNIVER- 
SITY OF  WISCONSIN. 

My  standpoint  is  that  of  the  user,  not  the 
custodian,  of  books,  and  of  the  user  of  his- 
torical books  in  particular.  There  is  no 
branch  of  knowledge  more  dependent  upon 
bibliography  than  is  history.  The  natural 
sciences,  for  example,  get  their  bibliographies 
through  current  journals  and  their  original 
materials  in  the  laboratory,  while  the  student 
of  history  must  not  only  cover  current  lit- 
erature thoroughly  but  is  entirely  dependent 
upon  bibliographies  to  guide  him  to  the  pri- 
mary sources  of  his  subject  of  study.  There 
is  not  as  yet  enough  definite  instruction  in 
historical  bibliography  offered  in  American 
universities;  indeed,  there  is  some  vagueness 
as  to  just  what  historical  bibliography  is.  In 
the  work  at  Wisconsin  the  course  is  divided 
into  two  broad  sections.  The  first  half  of  the 
course  is  taken  up  with  a general  account  of 
the  manuscript  and  printed  collections  of  his- 
torical material  in  Europe  and  America.  The 
second  half  begins  with  a description  of  the 
bibliographical  tools  which  all  students  alike 
use,  the  national  bibliographies,  and  the  trade 
bibliographies  of  all  the  important  countries, 
and  goes  on  to  consider  the  bibliographical 
materials  peculiar  to  history  and  of  prime 


INSTRUCTION  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY:  ROUND  TABLE. 


201 


importance  only  to  the  historical  student.  In 
this  connection  especial  stress  is  laid  upon  the 
historical  periodicals.  The  aim  throughout 
the  whole  course  is  to  indicate  the  nature  and 
the  range  oi  historical  material,  where  it  is 
to  be  found,  what  and  where  are  the  sources, 
so  that  the  student  will  come  to  know  what  he 
wants  and  where  to  find  it.  The  course  is 
given  one  hour  each  week  through  a half  year 
and  is  taken  entirely  by  graduate  students. 
The  registration  is  usually  from  8 to  12. 
The  work  in  the  lectures  is  supplemented  by 
many  references  to  articles  and  books.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  course  the  “Manuel  de 
bibliographie  historique”  of  Langlois  is  used 
as  a text  in  the  hands  of  the  students.  The 
second  edition  of  this  book,  which  is  just  out, 
forms  an  exceedingly  satisfactory  book  for 
this  purpose,  and  is  supplemented  by  informal 
comment  and  mention  of  additional  material. 
In  this  admirable  little  volume  nothing  of 
importance  is  omitted  and  very  little  indeed 
which  is  unimportant  is  included.  Very  much 
is  made  of  the  actual  handling  of  the  books 
by  the  students.  No  regular  system  of  prac- 
tical exercises  in  connection  with  this  course 
has  yet  been  worked  out,  but  progress  is  be- 
ing made  in  this  direction.  The  object  is  pri- 
marily to  impress  students  with  the  impor- 
tance of  the  use  of  bibliographical  tools.  Con- 
siderable practice  in  the  use  of  bibliographies 
is  also  given  in  all  the  advanced  courses  in 
history. 

In  general  I have  found  that  much  incon- 
venience both  to  students  and  instructors  re- 
sults from  the  habit  of  secluding  all  the  most 
important  bibliographies  in  the  catalog  room. 
If  it  be  true  that  these  bibliographies  are 
constantly  needed  in  the  catalog  room,  they 
should  be  duplicated  for  the  use  of  the  stu- 
dents. This  practice  of  seclusion  would  not 
be  worth  mention  did  it  not  seem  to  be  habit- 
ual in  almost  all  libraries,  and  I wish  here 
to  register  a special  plea  that  bibliographies 
may  be  shelved  just  as  publicly  as  any  other 
section  of  the  library. 

I am  much  interested  in  Mr.  Josephson’s 
proposals  for  developing  bibliographical  in- 
struction in  universities.  It  seems  to  me 
he  has  taken,  hold  of  the  matter  by  the 
right  end,  and  the  establishment  of  a course 
similar  to  that  he  suggests  would  not  only  be 
of  value  to  future  librarians  by  giving  them 
wider  opportunities  for  general  training  than 
they  can  get  in  special  schools,  but  would  also 


prove  helpful  to  advanced  students  in  all  de- 
partments of  study.  I hope  some  university 
will  take  the  matter  up.  I am  in  sympathy 
with  any  instruction,  formal  or  informal, 
which  brings  instructors  and  students  to  a bet- 
ter knowledge  of  how  to  use  the  library  and 
the  books. 

COURSES  AT  OTHER  COLLEGES. 

Mr.  Root  gave  in  detail  the  work  he  is  do- 
ing at  Oberlin  in  this  line.  He  said : 

We  offer  at  Oberlin  a course  in  bibliogra- 
phy in  each  college  year.  The  first  year  the 
work  has  to  do  with  the  use  of  libraries,  with 
questions  of  classification  and  cataloging,  and 
is  designed  to  aid  the  new  students  in  becom- 
ing familiar  with  the  methods  in  use  in  our 
own  library  and  also  with  accepted  methods 
in  all  well-conducted  libraries.  The  course 
in  the  second  year  has  to  do  with  the  history 
of  books  and  of  printing.  This  work  is  al- 
most entirely  historical.  Some  study  is  given 
to  the  process  and  history  of  binding,  with 
examples  of  famous  bindings.  The  third  year 
work  deals  with  palaeography  and  the  history 
and  development  of  handwriting,  illumination, 
and  work  with  manuscripts  in  general.  The 
fourth  year  work  is  in  the  nature  of  a seminar 
and  is  devoted  to  instruction  in  bibliography. 
After  an  outline  of  the  leading  national  and 
trade  bibliographies,  problems  in  bibliography 
are  handled  and  discussed.  The  courses  fill 
half  of  the  college  year,  one  lecture  per  week 
being  given.  The  work  is  entirely  elective 
and  the  completion  of  all  of  it  enables  a stu- 
dent to  elect  one-eighth  of  his  course  in  this 
subject.  I should  be  glad  to  see  recognition 
by  the  leading  library  schools  of  this  work, 
perhaps  giving  students  advanced  credit  when 
work  has  been  satisfactorily  done  at  any  rep- 
utable college. 

Walter  M.  Smith,  librarian  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Wisconsin,  briefly  outlined  the  ele- 
mentary work  done  there  with  new  students, 
and  maintained  that  formal  lectures  were  not 
so  good  as  practical  instruction  in  the  use  of 
the  library  both  from  the  librarian’s  desk  and 
from  the  reference  desk. 

Miss  Sharp,  librarian  of  the  University  of 
Illinois,  stated  that  a one-hour  course  was 
given  there  for  the  general  student  body  in  the 
use  of  the  library.  Regular  university  credit 
is  given,  but  students  may  attend  these  lec- 
tures optionally  and  many  do  so. 

Andrew  Keogh,  of  Yale  University  Library,  > 
described  a short  course  in  the  use  of  the  li- 


202 


WAUKESHA  CONFERENCE. 


brary  offered  at  that  university.  Two  lec- 
tures are  given,  one  in  the  class  room  and  one 
in  the  library,  accompanied  with  actual  dem- 
onstration with  the  books.  Some  further  and 
more  elective  work  is  given  as  graduate  work 
at  Yale,  but  the  elementary  work  is  compul- 
sory with  all  new  students. 

A letter  was  read  from  Dr.  H.  P.  Talbot, 
of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology, 
giving  full  description  of  his 

COURSE  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  CHEMISTRY. 

My  attempts  to  interest  my  students  in 
books  and  bibliographies  are  briefly  these: 
For  one  term  of  15  weeks  of  the  junior  year 
the  students  of  the  course  in  chemistry  de- 
vote an  hour  each  week  (with  two  hours  as- 
signed for  preparation)  to  practice  in  reading 
chemical  German.  The  subject  matter  as- 
signed is  either  from  some  work  on  general 
or  analytical  chemistry  or  from  some  current 
journal.  Of  late  I have  confined  myself  mostly 
to  a work  on  inorganic  chemistry.  The  purpose 
here  is  not  at  all  to  attempt  to  teach  German, 
but  to  assist  the  students  in  acquiring  a mod- 
erate facility  in  reading,  that  is,  sufficient  to 
enable  them  to  get  the  essentials  from  an  ar- 
ticle, rather  than  to  make  a finished  transla- 
tion. 

During  the  term  following  this,  there  is 
assigned  to  the  class  one  or  more  (usually 
two)  topics,  and  they  are  required  to  prepare 
and  submit  for  inspection  a bibliography  of 
the  journal  literature  upon  these  subjects. 
This  year  the  topic  assigned  to  the  whole  class 
was  the  “Determination  of  sulphur  in  irons 
and  steels.”  The  class  (of  30)  was  divided 
into  squads,  and  to  each  squad  a second  topic 
was  assigned,  such  as  “The  use  of  sodium 
peroxide  in  analytical  chemistry,”  “The  prep- 
aration and  analysis  of  persulphuric  acid  and 
the  persulphates,”  “The  recovery  of  molybdic 
acid  from  residues,”  etc. 

General  directions  are  given  as  to  procedure 
in  the  compilation  of  the  bibliography,  the 
use  of  such  periodicals  as  the  Centralhlatt  as 
a starting  point,  and  also  the  way  to  record 
and  classify  the  references  found. 

This  year  we  have  used  library  cards  for 
the  recording  of  the  references  for  the  first 
time,  with  marked  success.  Each  card  was 
to  bear  the  original  reference,  the  Centralhlatt 
or  Jahresbericht  reference,  the  title  of  the  ar- 
ticle (if  possible)  and  a very  brief  statement 


of  its  contents.  The  cards  were  then  to  be 
grouped  according  to  a classification  to  be 
worked  out  by  the  student. 

Each  student  had  finally  about  200  cards, 
often  with  several  references  on  a card.  They 
were  allowed  to  divide  the  journals  among 
the  members  of  a given  squad,  and  to  ex- 
change cards. 

The  results  are  most  satisfactory.  The 
work  has  been  well  done  as  a whole,  and  al- 
ready 1 hear  of  resolves  on  their  part  to  keep 
up  a card  catalog  of  interesting  articles,  which 
is  a promising  symptom. 

Each  year  for  some  time,  I have  devoted 
a single  hour  near  the  close  of  the  year  to 
a brief  discussion  of  books,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  needs  of  a person  desiring  to  col- 
lect a small  library.  In  this  connection  I 
have  put  into  the  students  hands  a list  of 
“Standard  works”  citing  the  essential  refer- 
ence books  on  the  subject,  and  have  com- 
mented briefly  on  the  list.  Please  understand 
that  this  list  is  not  by  any  mieans  infallible, 
and  that  there  are  doubtless  other  works  just 
as  good  as  those  mentioned. 

Our  senior  students  are  all  required  to  com- 
pile a bibliography  of  the  literature  of  the 
subject  chosen  as  a thesis,  and  to  prepare  a 
brief  review  of  all  recorded  work,  before  they 
can  begin  their  investigation,  and  the  way  in 
which  they  attack  this  work  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  familiarity  with  journals  and  methods 
gained  in  the  work  of  the  junior  year  out- 
lined above  stands  them  in  good  stead. 

In  connection  with  the  instruction  in  the 
history  of  chemistry,  frequent  preparation  of 
memoirs  and  a study  of  works  in  this  field 
is  also  required. 

The  list  of  books  referred  to  in  Dr.  Tal- 
bot’s letter  was  divided  under  the  following 
heads:  History  of  chemistry.  Physiological 
chemistry,  Organic  chemistry.  Technical 
chemistry.  Agricultural  chemistry,  Analytical 
chemistry,  Biography,  Dictionaries,  Tables, 
Dyeing,  Foods,  General  chemistry.  Toxicol- 
ogy. 

J.  I.  Wyer,  librarian  of  the  University  of 
Nebraska,  outlined  a course  of  16  lectures 
which  are  given  there  during  the  first  semes- 
ter of  every  alternate  year,  embracing  national 
and  trade  bibliography,  reference  books,  and 
thorough  drill  in  subject  bibliography.  The 
work  is  primarily  given  as  part  of  the  ap- 
prentices’ training  for  the  library,  but  is  at- 


INSTRUCTION  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY:  ROUND  TABLE. 


203 


tended  by  advanced  and  graduate  students 
in  other  departments.  Regular  university 
credit  is  given  for  the  work. 

W.  Stetson  Merrill^  of  the  Newberry  Li- 
brary, read  a paper,  entitled 

A DESIDERATUM  FOR  LIBRARY  SCHOOLS. 

As  I am  desirous  that  you  should  appre- 
hend precisely  what  it  is  that  I am  to  suggest 
as  a desideratum  for  the  library  schools,  I will 
ask  to  be  permitted  to  lead  up  to  my  point, 
rather  than  state  it  at  the  outset. 

We  are  all  of  us  daily  impressed  with  the 
rapidity  of  change  and  enlargement  in  the 
arts,  sciences  and  various  achievements  of 
knowledge  to-day.  In  some  departments,  in- 
deed, such  as  the  natural  sciences,  we  expect 
the  accepted  opinions  of  one  decade  to  give 
place  to  others  in  the  next  decade.  But  we 
perhaps  hardly  realize  that  there  is  a similar 
progress  in  the  historical,  sociological  and  re- 
ligious sciences,  and  in  the  fine  arts.  New 
facts  are  discovered,  verdicts  of  history  are 
reviewed,  new  schools  of  thought  and  meth- 
ods of  study  are  established;  new  men,  new 
theories,  new  things  come  up  every  year,  al- 
most every  day. 

Now,  a librarian  is  expected  to  bring  the 
stores  of  knowledge  to  an  inquiring  public; 
to  render  available  the  resources  of  accumu- 
lated wisdom  which  but  for  him  would  be 
like  gold  hidden  in  the  veins  of  the  rock.  To 
perform  this  function  requires  of  course  pri- 
marily a certain  amount  of  educational  train- 
ing. A library  assistant  should  be  at  least  a 
high  school  graduate ; the  librarian  of  a libra- 
ry of  research  should  be  a college  bred  man, 
as  such  collegiate  training  will  be  found  to  his 
own  advantage  and  to  that  of  his  library. 

But  how  after  all  their  training  and  prep- 
aration are  librarians,  library  workers  or  stu- 
dents of  library  science  to  keep  abreast  of 
the  time?  This  is  really  the  problem  in 
what  may  be  called  the  higher  education  of 
the  library  profession.  It  may  be  thought 
that  the  reading  of  annual  cyclopedias,  peri- 
odicals and  the  latest  treatises  will  suffice  to 
keep  members  of  the  profession  posted  upon 
all  subjects  of  importance.  Yet  a little  con- 
sideration will  show  that  by  such  means  much 
time  and  labor  are  sacrificed.  A library  work- 
er reads  in  such  a case,  not  for  general  in- 
formation, but  to  ascertain  definite  and  per- 
tinent facts  of  importance  to  him  in  his  spe- 
cial field  of  work.  What  he  wishes  to  know 


are  indeed  the  new  discoveries,  facts  and 
opinions;  viewed,  however,  not  in  themselves 
as  events  in  the  progress  of  the  sciences, 
but  as  bearing  upon  the  classification  and  nom- 
enclature of  the  respective  sciences  which 
treat  of  them,  and  upon  the  relations  which 
those  sciences  bear  to  others.  He  needs  also 
an  up-to-date  acquaintance  with  the  great 
men  of  the  time,  not  in  a personal  way,  but 
through  the  contributions  which  they  have 
made  to  knowledge.  Otherwise  he  will  not 
discern  the  authority  upon  any  given  subject 
from  a tyro  or  an  ignoramus.  A true  knowl- 
edge of  bibliography  does  not  consist  merely 
in  knowing  lists  of  books  or  in  knowing 
where  to  find  such  lists.  It  implies  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  relative  values  of  books 
as  well. 

A thoroughly  equipped  reference  attendant 
or  cataloger  should  also  be  familiar  with  the 
shibboleths  and  theories  of  the  schools  and 
with  the  opinions  of  scholars  upon  questions 
of  the  day.  Now  how  is  he  to  learn  all  this? 
He  cannot  learn  it  before  he  begins  to  study 
library  work,  because  it  is  a growing,  living 
thing  — this  mass  of  current  fact  and  opinion. 
Yet  he  has  no  time  to  master  each  science  for 
himself,  and  in  merely  cursory  reading  he  will 
miss  the  point  which  is  to  be  of  most  use  to 
him  in  his  particular  line  of  work. 

I reply  that  he  needs  the  spoken  word  of 
the  expert,  framed  and  directed  to  meet  the 
special  requirements  of  his  case.  The  expert 
who  knows  his  subject  in  all  its  bearings  can 
tell  us  at  once  just  what  we  want  to  know, 
if  we  have  a chance  to  ask  him. 

Let  us  have  then  before  our  library  schools 
and  — I may  add  also  — our  library  clubs  and 
associations,  periodical  talks  by  specialists 
upon  their  respective  subjects,  presenting  in 
a concise  form  the  progress  of  these  sciences 
and  arts  with  special  reference  to  the  needs  of 
library  workers,  as  outlined  above. 

Such  a presentation  will  enable  the  librarian, 
the  reference  attendant,  the  cataloger  or  the 
classifier  to  perform  his  work  with  an  as- 
surance and  a facility  that  can  be  acquired 
in  no  other  way.  He  will  be  acting  under 
expert  advice.  The  special  points  to  be 
brought  out  will  be  presented  to  the  lecturer 
beforehand;  he  will  prepare  his  statement, 
deliver  it,  and  later  answers  inquiries  which 
may  have  arisen.  We  all  know  how  much 
easier  it  is  to  ask  somebody  about  something 
than  it  is  to  look  it  up  in  some  book.  Let 


204 


WAUKESHA  CONFERENCE, 


questions  be  noted  as  they  occur  and  the  class 
be  given  a chance  to  ask  them  of  an  authority. 

These  lectures  or  talks  need  not  and  should 
not  be  confined  to  student  class  rooms.  Let 
them  be  public  lectures  which  library  workers 
outside  the  school  may  attend  upon  payment 
of  a small  fee.  The  intrinsic  interest  of  a 
lecture  upon  some  topic  of  the  day  whether 
literary,  historical,  political,  or  scientific, 
would  attract  in  a way  that  a course  upon  pure 
bibliography  can  never  do.  As  our  library 
schools  are  so  integrally  a part,  as  a rule,  of 
some  system  of  collegiate  instruction,  there 
should  be  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  ser- 
vices of  different  members  of  the  faculty.  I 
may  repeat  also  that  no  more  useful  program 
of  work  for  a library  club  during  a season 
could  be  planned  than  a course  of  just  such 
talks  as  I have  described.  To  tell  the  truth, 
the  matter  of  this  paper  first  occurred  to  me 
in  its  bearings  upon  the  work  of  library  clubs. 
To  them  and  to  the  directors  of  our  library 
schools  it  is  presented  for  their  consideration. 

Following  this  the  representatives  of  the  va- 
rious library  schools  were  asked  to  describe  the 

WORK  OFFERED  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY  AT  THE  LIBRARY 
SCHOOLS. 

Mr.  Biscoe  described  the  work  at  Albany, 
running  through  two  years,  the  fir.st  being 
taken  up  with  trade  bibliography  and  the  sec- 
ond with  reference  work  and  subject  bibli- 
ography. The  large  resources  of  the  New 
York  State  Library  enable  the  students  to  see, 
study  and  use  almost  all  books  taken  up  and 
the  work  is  accompanied  with  many  problems. 
Further  elective  work  is  also  offered  to  stu- 
dents desiring  to  specialize  along  this  line. 

Miss  Plummer  spoke  for  the  Pratt  Insti- 
tute School.  During  the  first  year  a general 
course  of  instruction  in  bibliography  is  of- 
fered, beginning  with  trade  bibliography,  stu- 
dents being  referred  to  the  leading  works  of 
reference  in  English,  French  and  German 
through  lectures  and  problems  given  during 
the  year.  Each  student  is  required  to  prepare  a 
reading  list  on  a selected  subject,  requiring 
considerable  research  work,  which  must  be  sat- 
tisfactory  to  the  instructor.  The  leading  na- 
tional and  subject  bibliographies  are  included 
in  the  lectures,  and  the  problems  frequently  re- 
quire consultation  of  these.  Ten  lectures  are 
given  on  the  history  of  books  and  printing.  This 
is  merely  an  outline  course  offered  partly  that 


students  may  discover  any  latent  inclination 
toward  the  historical  course,  that  they  may 
know  there  is  that  side  to  their  work.  “In 
the  special  lessons  in  French  and  German  cat- 
aloging which  we  expect  to  undertake  this  fall,” 
she  said,  “a  study  of  foreign  catalogs  will  be 
a prominent  feature,  and  the  students  will 
collect  for  themselves  a vocabulary  of  biblio- 
graphical terms  in  these  languages.  In  the 
broad  sense  of  the  term  bibliography,  as  we 
find  it  in  the  ‘Century  dictionary,’  the  subject 
is  fairly  well  covered  by  the  second  year’s  his- 
torical course.  Through  the  courtesy  of  the 
New  Y'ork  Public  Library  the  class  has  had 
opportunity  to  do  most  of  its  work  at  the 
Lenox  Library  where  there  is  a fine  collection 
of  reference  books.  The  course  begins  with  a 
study  of  reference  books  on  the  history  of 
printing,  bibliographies  of  the  15th  century, 
etc.,  and  books  such  as  Hain,  Panzer,  etc., 
and  the  more  general  bibliographies,  e.g., 
Brunet,  Graesse.  The  history  of  bookmaking 
is  studied  from  the  period  of  the  manuscript 
through  the  15th  century,  and  some  work  with 
American  and  other  books  has  been  done  each 
year.  The  materials  used  in  the  earliest  times, 
the  methods  of  production  and  the  steps  lead- 
ing to  the  invention  of  printing  are  all  treated. 
The  history  of  printing  is  studied  by  country, 
town,  and  printer,  chronologically,  and  a study 
of  the  types  used  by  different  printers  is 
made.  For  practical  work  the  class  catalogs 
15th  century  books.  The  books  used  for  con- 
sultation in  this  course  have  been  very  num- 
erous, and  perhaps  a good  working  knowl- 
edge of  them  has  been  the  most  important 
feature  of  the  work.  The  class  was  not  and 
could  not  be  limited  to  books  in  English,  but 
used  and  in  part  translated  books  of  reference 
in  foreign  languages.  In  the  work  with  man- 
uscripts the  historical  course  depends  upon 
instruction  given  by  Prof.  Egbert,  professor 
of  Latin  palaeography  of  Columbia  Universi- 
ty, who  has  made  up  a course  especially 
adapted  to  the  object  of  our  work  and  to  the 
time  we  have  to  give.  Twenty-three  lectures, 
only  a few  of  which  are  devoted  to  the  bib- 
liography of  the  subject,  comprise  the  in- 
struction, two  hours’  work  outside  being  nec- 
essary on  each  lecture.  Much  more  is  usually 
done  by  the  students,  who  generally  live  in 
New  York  city  while  taking  the  historical 
course.  The  study  of  successive  handwritings 
and  abbreviations  as  illustrated  by  blue-prints 


INSTRUCTION  IN  BIBLIOGRAPHY:  ROUND  TABLE. 


205 


furnished  by  the  professor,  leads  naturally  to 
early  printed  books,  whose  types  were  mod-» 
elled  after  the  handwriting  of  the  period. 
Reports  of  the  work  of  this  class  have  been 
very  satisfactory.” 

Miss  Kroeger,  of  the  Drexel  Institute  Li- 
brary School,  described  a course  of  15  lectures 
on  the  history  of  books  and  printing,  given 
at  her  school. 

The  lectures  embrace  the  following  sub- 
jects : 

I.  The  development  of  language,  oral  and 
written.  Ancient  systems  of  wri^ng. 
Derivation  of  the  English  alphabet. 
The  preservation  of  literature.  Ear- 
liest forms  of  permanent  records,  lit- 
erature, books,  and  libraries  in  the 
ancient  civilizations  of  the  east. 

II.  The  literatures  of  Greece  and  Rome. 
The  book  in  the  classical  age.  Alex- 
andria as  a literary  center.  Barbarian 
invasions  of  the  Roman  Empire.  De- 
cline and  extinction  of  ancient  cul- 
ture. Destruction  of  books  and  libra- 
ries. 

III.  The  book  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  pres- 

ervation and  the  production  of  books 
in  the  monasteries.  Development  of 
the  illuminated  manuscript.  The  ear- 
ly Renascence  in  its  relation  to  litera- 
ture and  books. 

IV.  The  later  Renascence : revival  of  learn- 

ing. Recovery  of  ancient  literature. 
Rome,  Florence,  and  Venice  as  the 
centers  of  activity.  Multiplication  of 
manuscripts.  The  formation  of  mod- 
ern libraries. 

V.  The  art  of  engraving  as  the  precursor  of 

printing.  The  invention  and  diffusion 
of  printing.  The  chief  centers  and 
the  great  masters  of  printing.  The 
printed  book  and  its  influence  upon 
civilization. 

VI.  Book  illustration  in  ancient,  medieval, 
and  modern  times. 

VII.  Books  and  libraries  in  Europe  and  the 

United  States.  Types  of  modern  pub- 
lic libraries. 

VIII.  Makers  and  lovers  of  books,  and  their 

libraries. 

Miss  Sharp  told  of  the  instruction  in  bib- 
liography given  to  the  students  in  University 
of  Illinois  Library  School  by  the  professors 
at  the  university.  Several  of  the  professors 


give  lectures  on  the  bibliography  of  their 
various  subjects;  a subject  is  assigned  to  the 
students  before  the  lecture,  they  are  required 
to  examine  bibliographies,  reviews,  and  the 
books  themselves,  as  far  as  accessible  in  the 
library,  and  to  select  ten  books  which  they 
would  buy  first  for  a library  of  10,000  vols. 
This  selection  is  criticised  by  the  professor, 
who  meets  the  class,  gives  them  an  outline  of 
his  subject,  speaks  of  the  principles  of  selec- 
tion, mentions  the  writers  who  are  considered 
authorities,  and  calls  to  the  attention  of  the 
students  valuable  material  not  to  be  found  in 
the  trade  lists.  This  is  in  the  first  year;  in 
the  second  year  the  professors  give  their  lec- 
tures first  and  the  class  will  select  their  books 
for  criticism  afterwards.  The  professors  have 
given  most  generous  co-operation  in  the  work ; 
but  their  work  has  been  uneven  and  many  of 
them  fail  to  catch  the  librarian’s  and  bibli- 
ographer’s point  of  view,  and  most  of  them 
acknowledge  that  their  studies  are  limited  to 
the  advanced  works,  so  that  they  do  not  know 
what  to  recommend  for  the  small  public  li- 
braries. 

An  interesting  discussion  followed  as  to 
the  relation  between  university  librarians  and 
professors  in  mutual  co-operation  in  biblio- 
graphical work. 

Miss  Kroeger  suggested  that  library  stu- 
dents who  felt  a special  inclination  for  some 
scholastic  subject  might  take  up  such  study 
as  a supplement  to  the  library  school  course. 

To  this  Mr.  Haskins  remarked  that  the 
proper  way  would  rather  be  the  opposite, 
namely  that  the  student  of  history,  for  ex- 
ample, who  wished  to  take  up  library  work, 
might  take  a course  in  library  economy  as  a 
supplement  to  his  university  studies.  He 
pointed  out  that  a university  graduate  did  not 
at  all  need  to  spend  two  years  in  getting 
familiar  with  library  technique. 

Mr.  Hanson,  of  the  Library  of  Congress, 

Mr.  Andrews,  of  The  John  Crerar  Library, 
and  Miss  Clark,  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture Library  at  Washington,  all  emphasized 
the  need  of  scientific  experts  who  should  also 
be  trained  in  bibliography  and  library  econo- 
my. The  opinion  was  strongly  expressed  that 
there  was  no  greater  desideratum  in  instruc- 
tion in  library  work  at  present  than  a course 
offered  to  trained  scientists  who  would  be 
willing  to  add  to  their  scientific  training  a fair  ^ 
knowledge  of  library  methods. 


